The process of protecting marine wildlife has become a fundamental staple of ecological and conservation in the last twenty years, but this is both a recent and complicated process. Numerous areas including many of the waters surrounding the Florida Keys have been declared “National Wildlife Refuges”. This classification helps to protect the plants and animals living in these delicate zones from commercial exploitation or from exploitive/destructive tourism. The development of this classification was, as the creation of many legal documents is, a highly interdisciplinary pursuit which united a diverse collection of individuals.

Introduction:Why save these areas?What lives there?

The process:Political/legal terminology VS Ecological terminologyThe steps to the processBarriers